JP: Music Video Analysis

Call It What You Want – Foster the People – Torches

Genre and Narrative

When considering the key features of a music video, Andrew Goodwin (Dancing in the Distraction Factory, 1992) identified a number of conventions that can be applied to this music video. Firstly he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics, and this video would be categorised in the indie pop genre. It is conventional in that it has a fast cutting rate to suit the music, as quite a lot of indie pop music has an upbeat tune to it, and the fast cutting rate would accompany the music well. It is a mixture of performance and narrative, as many indie pop videos are, with shots of the band performing, and random shots of the band doing odd things whilst performing. Iconography is very important in the way many indie pop videos include the name of the band and song at the beginning of the track. In this video, the band’s name is shown many times throughout the video, instead of just at the beginning.

                   The video could be seen as unconventional in the way that instead of following a narrative path, whether related to the lyrics or not, the video just has random shots of the band doing strange things. I believe this is a good technique as it keeps the audience’s attention on the video, as they do not know what to expect. The video employs a creative and artistic approach to conventions, as instead of just having a normal title or name of the band, they intertwine it within the video, by having the words foster, the, and people all tattooed on different people, and then they include three girls with the three words written on their shirts, which are then ruined by blue ink. Goodwin also considered the relationship between lyrics and visuals to be important, however in this video there is absolutely no relation between the lyrics and visuals at all, however the relation between the music and visuals is quite prominent through the cutting rate. At the beginning of the song, before the upbeat part, the video is quite slow, introducing the stage. There are a couple of references to the notion of looking, when members of the band are seen talking to themselves in car mirrors and wall mirrors.

           

              This video is an example of disjuncture as it does not relate to the lyrics whatsoever, and what occurs within the video is unexpected and very enigmatic. This video could easily be considered art over commercial or porn, as it contains several arty shots that would not be found in an average music video. It does not really present any ideas that challenge or support ideologies, as the video consists entirely of disjunctive shots and random fast cutting rates of the band performing unusual acts. It is postmodern as it introduces a new form of art through the music video, an odd, contemporary form of video art.

Paradise – Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto

Media Language and Institution

I believe that the purpose of the video is to raise awareness of the fact that many animals in captivity do not enjoy their lives, and are lonely and deprived of the life they should have in the wild. The title of the song, ‘Paradise’, I believe refers to how the normal life they would lead must appear to them in captivity. By showing the elephant escaping from the zoo and escaping to Africa to meet his friends and live the life he deserves, the message is shown even more clearly. This creates a band image for Coldplay, showing that they care for nature and the environment, as they are creating this message about how animals kept in captivity should not be kept so; instead they should have the freedom to roam the wild like other members of their species.

                  The camera techniques used in the video are also very important to the message being conveyed in the video. For example, the crispness of the footage and the tracking shots show the travelling the elephant has to do to return home, and Coldplay are trying to show that the elephant should not have to travel so much to get home, in fact he should not have to travel at all. The fast cutting rate used in the video accentuates how long it takes the elephant to return home, to again reinforce the point that the elephant should not have to travel so far. The use of costume on the elephant is very important. Because it is quite clearly a man in an elephant costume, it is creating a double meaning to the video. While supporting the freedom of animals and disagreeing with the way some of them are kept in captivity, they are comparing the situation of the elephant with the situation of some people, for example those in the poverty trap, who want to get out but can't, and the video is showing how it should not take them such a long journey to escape from somewhere they do not want to be. The locations used in the video are also important, as the elephant is shown travelling through London and in lots of public transport including an aeroplane all the way to Africa. This again reinforces the point that Coldplay are making about the length of the journey.

I am not aware of any references to popular culture in the video, however the video is a kind of parody of real animal documentaries, in the way that it is just a man wearing an elephant costume. It could also be considered a parody of the video’s own message, a very unique thing to find in a music video. The video is getting across a message that captivity for animals is wrong, however they are creating a parody of their own message by making the animal in question just a man wearing a costume. Because Coldplay are quite a large and recognised band, the record label would probably play a large part in the video. The video probably had a fairly large budget, despite appearing quite amateur, although I think that is the look the band were going for. For example, they must have hired out part of an airport to film part of it, a very costly thing to do. The genre – alternative – is quite a popular genre amongst the general public, so the record labels would want to make the video well known quickly to advertise Coldplay’s new single, as it would earn them a lot of money.

Goodbye Mr. A – The Hoosiers – The Trick to Life

Representation and Audience

The band represent themselves negatively in this video, as they show themselves removing their competition so they can take the spotlight. It is a parody of superhero films in the way that the superheroes are shown to actually get rid of other superheroes for their own selfish needs. Their star persona is constructed with plenty of meat shots throughout the video, lots of close ups on every band members face, so that the entire band get equal recognition, rather than just the singer / guitarist taking all the credit in the video, as many bands seem to do. Their video is very contemporary and unique, attracting attention. Many of their videos have a unique storyline behind them, such as the video for ‘Worried about Ray’, so their star persona is constructed giving them the appearance of putting a lot of effort into their music videos.

               No social groups are really represented in this video. The video shows the superhero business to be a patriarchal society, male-based, as there are no female characters in the video. This could be showing how superheroes are generally seen to be large muscular men and not women. Obviously, superheroes are not a social group, and the video is merely a parody of the superhero film genre, however the band represent superheroes as being generally the same type of people, men with suits and capes and masks. The ideological discourse within the video shows that men are more powerful than women, a residual ideology. All the characters in the video, however I do not believe there is any racial ideology occurring. I believe the lack of women in the video could show that women are not strong enough to be superheroes, but I don’t believe that the lack of people of any race other than Caucasian is trying to send any messages. Police are not shown in the video, as I believe the band are trying to say that typical police institutions in superhero films/comics do not do anything about the ‘bad guys’. It is all up to the superheroes, and in this instance, the superheroes that the band represent kill another superhero, and the police don’t do anything. The dominant ideology in society concerning superheroes is that they are large muscular men and not women, however when they are women they are attractive and fit. I believe the artist could be doing this to show that some women should have positions as superheroes, however it is more likely that they are just creating a parody of a superhero film, and do not intend to cause any controversy.